The Harmony Guardians had set up their camp inside one of the ruined buildings in the room. What might have once been a large house or some sort of office was now just a broken-down box made out of limestone. Four walls and a mostly covered ceiling, which was better than most of the alternatives. There were also a few walls around the place, even if every single one of them was broken or cracked in some way. Still, they endured, withstanding the test of time and the war against the elements that brought them here. They were not too close to the center or the doorway where they would ambush. The reason for that was simple: if the humans appeared and noticed signs of other people, they would be wary, and any idea of a surprise attack would go down the drain. They spent the next couple of days just watching, getting ready for the humans, and trying to come up with better traps or other things they could use to make their ambush more successful.

During that initial day after they set up their camp, Hera also asked Forge to use his skill for the first time. Not the [Phoenix Touch], which had a 7-day cooldown, but the [Awakened Potential] that could be used once every 24 hours. The skill description was a bit vague on what it actually did, and using it during a fight, hoping it would be something good, didn't sound like a good idea. Nimbus and Livy volunteered to be the test subjects, but Hera was against it. She didn't know how that would affect a titled blade, so it was better to start smaller. Instead, she asked Ember.

Forge already had some fire-based skills, and a dragon breath scimitar had the potential to have something interesting as part of its awakening. Also, Ember was currently the weakest blade she had. If this skill messed with her senses or changed the scimitar's personality in any way, this was the one that could do the least amount of damage. The moment Forge lightly tapped Ember, triggering his skill, the red blade was engulfed in flames, turning almost white. The delicate flame design adorning the hilt grew and shifted, forming a dragon head mid-roar. Lastly, the scale pattern around the blade was gone, now replaced by moving engravings that flickered in the light like actual flames.

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Ember (Awakened) - Fire (Dragon Fire)

Scimitar

Empress Attributes: 97

Scaling

Agility X 29.3 Strength X 29.3 Charisma X 24.3

Intelligence X 11.6 Endurance X 11.6 Luck X 11.6

Passive Skills

Deadly Prowess:

Attacks with this weapon deal 20% extra damage.

Elemental attacks with this weapon deal an additional 30% damage.

This weapon is 15% more likely to hit a vital spot.

Agility bonus +10

Active Skills

Dragon Fire Strike:

This weapon still remembers the flames that forged it and the tempering it endured.

Triggering this skill, this weapon will heat up, increasing the damage dealt.

Duration 10 minutes

Increased damage + 30%

Cooldown: 15 minutes.

Forged in Dragon Fire:

The flames used to create this weapon still dwell within

For a limited time, this weapon can ignite, replicating the dragon fire where it came from, increasing the damage it deals.

Heats up the blade, adding fire damage to all its attacks.

Duration 1 minute

Added fire damage + 200%

Cooldown: 1 hour

Familiarity 100%

Awakened:

The Scaling is doubled.

All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. The cooldown is reduced by half.

Ember is permanently wrapped in fire. Every attack will already include fire damage.

Any mention of fire in the skills will refer to true dragon fire.

Additional Skill:

Dragon's breath:

The dragon's breath that was used to create this weapon has been harnessed and can be used as an attack without harming the weapon itself.

Mana Cost: 3 500 000

Cooldown: 1 Minute

After using the dragon's breath, this weapon's damage will increase by 500% as it will ignite with Dragon Fire for 1 minute.

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"How are you feeling, Ember?" the Empress asked, her eyes full of worry.

'I'm feeling great! Holly shit, this is amazing. I'm so… powerful. My body is so easy to move. I just… I can't even describe this,' Ember moved from side to side, making the flames around its blade dance. Suddenly she stopped, 'Ok… Let me rephrase that: it's like I'm using a skill. A powerful skill that makes me be like this. It still feels like me, but I know this is not my original body. It's more like when you use the elemental strength spell,' Ember explained.

Hera nodded and looked at the scimitar's status window again, "Dragon Fire? That is an element?" she frowned, not expecting a second word to show up as the elemental affinity.

"Sort of, but not really," Flint replied as he used his own [Inspect] on the weapon. They had figured out that no one could do that without the Empress' permission, but she had allowed the entire team to see the blades' status window before the rampage and had no intention of removing that permission for now.

"Really?" Neria asked, "How does that work then? Why is Ember showing up as having dragon fire?" the healer wasn't the only one curious about this as the rest of the team leaned over to listen to the answer.

Flint looked around and nodded before speaking, "So, some elements can be found in… I don't know if that has a name. They are special versions. Those are usually only found in specific and powerful monsters or items that come as rewards from a dungeon or a quest given by the MAZE. This happens because we, people, just can't do that. I mean, if it was a skill, we can still use that skill. But items, even if you use and make something out of them with the best techniques and materials, will return to the regular element. It will be very powerful, but no longer 'Dragon Fire.' It will be like the skills said, something made by dragon fire that gains power from it."

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"So it's just a way to say, 'Hey, this is powerful?" Vash was preparing some veggie wraps for the team. They avoided using fire so as not to attract attention or change the smell of the area. Everything here smelt like the ocean, and something burning would be too out of place.

"Kind of, but it also tells us a bit about the material and how it's used. Like dragon fire, that one is pretty well known. It's more destructive, so it can't be used with anything too delicate. But it can also make something that will deal a lot of damage. Dragon Fire is more about either explosive bursts or continuous, unrelenting destruction. Also, not all fire that is made by a dragon is Dragon Fire. A dragon can just breathe regular fire. It takes a powerful one to make Dragon Fire. Even Undine and her fire legacy couldn't make that at first. I mean, according to the stories, she eventually managed to get some skills for it. But that is some perspective. Not even the one person famous for having a fire legacy could make Dragon Fire as she wanted," he turned to Hera, "Now that you have something that can just make dragon fire, you should be able to make some very good items. Hell, you can even just rent this in a large forge. I'm sure there will be people paying an arm and a leg for it. I'm already itching to ask you for that."

Hera chuckled, "We can do that later, but are there a lot of things like that? Special Elements, as you called it."

Flint shook his head in a mix of a yes and no answer, "Kind of. We know we don't know all of them, but some of the more basic elements have some variations. For instance, Dragon Fire is destructive and powerful. Sacred Fire is the fire used by a Phoenix. Again, a strong one, not just any Phoenix. That fire is the opposite of Dragon Fire. It's delicate, concentrated, and peaceful. Sacred Fire has some healing properties, too. It's more about cleansing, but it can still do some damage, but it's directed and aimed. Dragon Fire will destroy anything on its path."

"What other special elements are there?" Roan was preparing some tea to go along with the veggie wraps.

Flint blew raspberries, "I don't remember what any of them do since I never saw them, but there is… Clear and Deep Water. Primordial Earth? Then… Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn Breeze, but those come from the wind element, not the breeze. There is also an ice one… Permafrost? Absolute Zero? Something like that. And there is one related to electricity, but I have no fucking idea what it is. Or what any of those do."

"Do you think all the awakenings will be like this? Will you be able to get a special element for each of the court members?" Skyler turned to Hera as Vash started passing the plates with their meals.

"I don't know… Forge?" Hera turned to the hammer responsible for Ember's temporary awakening.

'That is not likely. My skill brings forward the materials used in the creation of each item. Ember already had Dragon Fire inside her. I just brought it to the surface. If other blades have those materials inside them, I should be able to do the same,' Forge explained while he still flew around Ember, looking over the scimitar's new appearance.

"Ok. So, it depends on the weapon. If the original was made with one of those materials, then yes. Or at least it's likely for their elements to be like that," Hera explained.

"That's kind of amazing. I'm curious about what the rest of the blades can turn into," Skyler opened a big smile after taking her first bite of their meal.

"Me too, but we are going to wait for a few days before doing this again. I want to save this for the humans," Hera replied, getting nods in response.

Ember's transformation lasted for around one hour. But that was only due to Hera herself. It took mana to maintain the awakening, and the Empress was the one who supplied it. Forge also was able to cut it off whenever he wanted, and he did that as a test. In the case of the scimitar, the cost was a bit over Hera's mana regeneration, which let her spend so long in this new form.

The next two days went by without a hitch. They continued waiting around. After Hera's snakes finished preparing the spell circle, the Ophidianite gave them another order. They would split into groups; some would be around the routes the humans were likely to take, and others would be close to the doorway, waiting to give Hera a message the moment anyone entered the room. The Empress was also having one of her court members constantly outside, near their location but as high as they could be without taking away her mana. That way, they had someone on watch constantly.

"Can I ask one thing?" Vash was looking up towards Ink, who was on watch duty at the moment, but his question was aimed at the rest of the group.

"Sure," Hera thought he was talking to her. After all, he was looking at one of her court members.

"Do you even need us?" Vash turned to the Empress.

"What?"

"Seriously. Do you need us? I mean, you can scout with your snakes and use your blades to keep watch. You fought a wendigo on your own, basically, and in the rampage, you cast a spell that covered the entire room. Like, are we even helping you? Or just holding you back?"

"Of course, I need you all. I was almost dead after the Wendigo. If it weren't for you all, I wouldn't be able to get out of that hole. I wouldn't be able to kill the monarch on my own, either. Not as many times as we killed. And you all had my back in the rampage. Neria saved my ass more times than I can count with healing or barriers. Flint and Roan were there in the middle of the fight with me and several times killed something that was about to hit me. You and Skyler provided so much cover fire that I didn't have to worry about half of the monsters that I saw. What are you even talking about?!" Hera gasped. Never once she thought she could do any of this by herself. Even if she was considering her court."

"Well, yeah, but you don't actually need us to do anything. Maybe just Neria for the heals. I heard about jack of all trades before, but you take that to another level," Skyler nodded.

Vash nodded, "True! I mean, look at this. Roan can look out for humans. Skyler and I made some traps around the room, small sound-based traps that will lure other monsters close to try to wear the humans out. Neria and Flint prepared everything we were going to use for our ambush. The trap with the loose rocks and hidden spikes is hidden by the water. But you, you have the snakes at the entrance and Ink up there on the lookout. You prepared the Pool of Styx as a trap, and for the ambush, you can have your court spread out to come from different sides or something else. You are a one-woman army!"

"Still… that doesn't mean I don't need help. What if-" Hera stopped getting a ping from one of her snakes. She quickly saw through their eyes and watched as a group of five humans appeared in the room, all wearing long cloaks, with one of them carrying a large box on their back. Their number, and more importantly, the large box with dark metal hinges and deep blue runes all around it, confined that this was the group that left the lab, "We can talk about this later. They are here. They just arrived from the doorway to the west."